FLATMATE // Harry Styles

Blackout

Ben tells Y/N not to move as he carefully layers another coat of nail polish on his neighbor's pinky, looking pretty proud of himself for how nice it turns out. Y/N giggles. She's never actually paid attention to her nails, let alone painted them herself. She tried and failed miserably, thank God Ben's here for the rescue.

"Oooh I love this color, Ben! Harry's so gonna make fun of me for this though!"

"Knowing Harry, he would still swoon over you, I guarantee!"

Harry's on the phone with Niall in the living room and has no idea Y/N and Ben are in her room gossiping about him.

Y/N holds both hands in front of her to admire Ben's art work, then says happily, "I should practice nail painting on Harry."

"You should definitely!" Ben chuckles. "But seriously though, thank you for doing this."

"Doing what? You were the one who did all the work for me."

"Inviting me over, spending time with me. It's been a rough couple days lately. It's good to spend some time with somebody who's not yourself."

Y/N heaves out a smile as she stares empathetically at her neighbor. Yes, the main reason she invited Ben over was because he'd been devastated over his fiancé cheating on him then breaking off the engagement right after, but that's not the only reason.

"To be honest, I also need to spend more time with someone else other than Harry."

Ben looks at her with wide eyes and the girl has to clarify right away.

"I love Harry, I do. I enjoy spending every minute with him, but I'm kinda afraid I'd scare him off if I started acting too clingy, which is very likely to happen."

"I think you're just overthinking, Y/N. It's normal to spend a lot of time with him, it's unavoidable. I mean, you two live together!"

Y/N rolls her eyes, crossing her arms in front of her chest defensively. "True. But I don't know...Harry's not used to having a serious girlfriend. And I just...I want to be with him all the time, but I don't want to overwhelm him."

"So you're obsessed with your boyfriend, big freaking deal."

"You don't get it." She shakes her head in response to Ben's confused expression. "Harry rarely hangs out with his friends anymore. I don't want him to feel like he's obliged to spend every second with me. And I read it online that if you spend too much time with your partner, it's more likely that one of you, or maybe both, will get tired of each other."

"Let me stop you right there and call it bullshit!" Ben interrupts Y/N, holding his forefinger in front of her face. "Look, honey. Why don't you just enjoy being in love and let everything happen naturally? I think you're trying way too hard."

"How can I not?" Y/N lifts her shoulders. "I...He's the only good thing that's happened to me in a long time...I don't want to screw this up."

"Everything happens for a reason whether you like it or not, so you should, I don't know, go with the flow I guess? Relationships are unpredictable, Y/N, just be happy and enjoy every moment of it."

Y/N doesn't reply to Ben, she stays silent. He can only hope his advice doesn't go over her head.

...

"I'm telling you, she's been keeping distance!" Harry keeps his voice down, but he has to raise his head from the sofa to check if the door of Y/N's room is still closed. On the phone, Niall remains very calm in contrast to his best friend's anxious state. Ever since Harry got a girlfriend, Niall has somehow become his love guru though he's not a lot more experienced than his best friend when it comes to a serious relationship.